Light emitting shotgun cartridge



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9 A, 1 9 Y o, 1 3 s e .nn 1 J .t .w Y l F ATTORNEYS Oct. 14, 1969 G. K.FLEURY 3,471,945

I LIGHT EMITTING SHOTGUN CARTRIDGE Filed June so, 1967 2 sheets-sheet gFIG. 5

I 72 N//ATZI f/' INVENTOR 70 GLENnoN K.FLEURY BY M M, i.; v @wat l(State U.S. Cl. `35-25 8 Claims ABSTRACT F DISCLOSURE A self-containedlight emitting shotgun cartridge employing a time delay circuit. Thecartridge has an adjustable resistor which controls the interval betweenclosing of the firing pin actuated switch and emission of light from thecartridge contained bulb.

It is known in the prior nart to utilize a self-contained lightprojecting dummy cartridge in a conventional weapon, such as a shotgun,to simulate target shooting. Cartridges of this type may be readilyinserted into a conventional shotgun in the same manner as a normalprojectile bearing cartridge without additional adapters or firearmmodifications. Such a system provides a safe, accurate,- and eco-`nomical method of target practice without the disadvantages of noise,recoil and powder fumes. The system may be used in the home, club'or thelike, and is highly desirable when employed to train people in the useof firearms.

The prior art cartridges do `not simulate the actual projectile velocityand therefore cannot be used to practice shooting at moving targets. Forexample, under actual conditions of field shooting, if a shooter was 20yards away from a bird and the bird was traveling at 100 feet persecond, he would swing past the bird and pull the trigger just when hewas passing the target and continue his follow-through. Due to the birdsspeed of l0() feet per second, the shot charge velocity of, say, 900feet per second, and the 20 yard range of the target, it would takeabout 0.067 second for the shot to reach the bird and at the same time,the bird would have traveled 6.7 feet. Therefore, in order to simulatethe true projectile situation, the cartridge must simulate th-eprojectile velocity so that a shooter must swing past the target; pullthe trigger and follow through the swinging motion before a hit isindicated on the target..

Accurate simulation is, p;ovided in the present invention by including adelay means within the self-contained cartridge which delays theemission of light from the cartridge the amount of time it takes aprojectile to travel the distance between the shotgun and the target.

The features and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description by way of the accompanying drawings, inwhich: i

FIGURE l is a schematic of the time delay circuit ernployed in theilluminating cartridge.

FIGURE 2 is a side view of the self-contained illuminating cartridgeemploying the delay circuit of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation of the illuminating cartridge of FIGURE 2adapted for short range target shooting.

FIGURE 4 is a schematic of the time delay circuit of FIGURE 1 providedwith additional delay circuitry for use in the short range light shot ofFIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a diagram illustrating the point of trigger pull and delayedlight fiash.

As seen in FIGURE 2, the light shot consists of a cylindrical shellcasing of a diameter suitable for insertion into the breech of aconventional shotgun. At the rear of the shell casing 10 is a firing pinactuated switch 12 which. is a commercially available normally open pushkice 2 K. button type switch having a built-in overtravel. The smalldiameter push button extends outwardly from the rear of the casing 10and is generally similar in geometrical configuration to that of theconventional primer `cap of a projectile bearing cartridge. One terminalof the firing pin switch 12 is in electrical contact with the'positiveterminal of the cartridge contained battery 18. Forwardly of the battery18, the casing 10 houses a time delay means 30 and a lamp socket 34. Thetime delay means 30 and lamp socket 34 are electrically interconnectedand assembled together to form a single unit. The unit is thenencapsulated to form a cylindrical module 15 which may be readilyinserted into the casing 10 and secured thereto by screws 22 and 24. Thetiring pin switch 12 is electrilcally connected to the module 15 by afiat insulated wire 14 extending from the second terminal lof the switch12 and by conductor 13 indicated in FIGURES 1 and 4, Conductor 13 maytake the form of a separate elongated wire as indicated in FIGURE 3 orconductor 13 may comprise the casing`10 itself when the casing is madeof a conductive material. Other equivalent means of electri'- cally`connecting the switch 12 to the module 15 or 15' may, of course, beused. An aperture 28 in the shell casing 10 provides an opening-to anadjustment screw 29 for adjustment of the delay circuit 30. Flashbulb 36is removably supported in the casing 10 by the lamp socket 34 andextends forwardly thereof.

Upon pulling the trigger of the firearm, the hammer strikes the firingpin (not shown) resulting in a depression of the firing pin switch 12.Referring to FIGURE 1, closure of the switch 12 applies a portion of thecurrent from battery 18 through insulator wire 14 to a gate resistor 38connected to the gate of a silicon controlled rec'ifier-40 This triggersthe silicon controlled rectilier 40 causing it to conduct and connectthe negative terminal of the battery 18 to the negative portion of thetime delay circuit 30, one terminal of a capacitor 42, a resistor 46connected to base'terminal 45 of a unijunction transistor 44, and thecathode terminal of a second silicon controlled rectifier 48.

A charging current, which is not sufficient to illuminate flashbulb 36,ows through the flashbulb 36 and allows the voltage on the time delaycircuit capacitor 42 to build up. When the voltage level builds up tothe threshold level of the unijunction transistor 44, it conductsbecause of the lower emitter to base 45 resistance. This conductiongenerates a pulse through base leg 45 of transistor 44 which flowsthrough the gate resistor 50, triggering a second silicon controlledrectifier 48 causing it to conduct. This `conduction of siliconcontrolled recn tifier 48 connects the low side of flashbulb 36 to thenegative portion of the time delay circuit. Current then flows directlythrough the flashbulb 36 and silicon controlled rectifier 48 causingbulb 36 to emit one ash of light. After bulb illumination, the flashbulbacts as an open circuit and the silicon controlled rectifier 40 turnsoff automatically leaving the circuit in a reset condition.

The rate of charge of the capacitor 42 determines the time intervalbetween closure of the tiring pin switch 12 and illumination of the bulb36. Adjustable resistor 26 in series with resistor 20 serves to controlthe rate of charge of capacitor 42. This rate of charge-may be readilycontrolled by the adjustable resistor 261. This allows the adjustment ofthe time delay so that varying range and target velocity conditions maybe simulated with a high degree of accuracy.

In the preferred embodiment of the cartridge illustrated in FIGURE 2,the illuminating bulb is a single shot type tiashbulb 36. However, aconventional light bulb may be readily used with dummy shotguncartridges of the present invention.

The use of a conventional bulb is illustrated in a modified form of theinvention of FIGURES 3 and 4. All parts of the cartridge shown in FIGURE3 are identical to those of FIGURE 2 with theexception of the elongatedcylindrical extension 56 secured to shell casing 10 by screws 22 and 24.The insulated wire 14 of shell casing 10 electrically connects withinsulated wir-e 14' within the cylindrical extension 56 and makesconnection with the module 15 in a manner generally similar to thatdiscussed above with reference to FIGURE 2. The purpose of thecylindrical extension 56 is to accommodate additional batteries 18 forilluminating bulb 36'. The cylindrical extension 56 extends beyond thebreech of the shotgun and into the barrel portion thereof. The use of aconventional illuminating bulb 36', as contrasted with a flash-typebulb, may be used many times although it has substantially lowerillumination intensity. However, the modified embodiment is desirablefor relatively short range target practice due to the enhanced economicfeature of a reusable bulb.

This embodiment of the light shot functions in generally the same manneras discussed above with reference to FIGURE 2 up to the point where thesecond silicon controlled rectifier 48 is switched to the conductingstage. An additional delay circuit, generally indicated by referencenumeral 58, is required when utilizing a conventional illuminating bulbin the time delay circuit 30 of FIGURE 1. This is due to the oscillatingnature of time delay circuit 30. When capacitor 42 has drainedsufliciently to turn olf the transistor 44, the potential acrossresistor 46 will drop and the second silicon controlled rectifier 48will be turned oli. The current will then begin to flow through resistor20 and adjustable resistor 26 and the capacitor 42 will begin to buildup a second time until the transistor 44 is again switched on. Thiswould then produce a second bulb illumination. In order to preventmultiple light emission from bulb 36' in response to a single closure ofswitch 12, the second delay circuit 58 is provided.

When the second silicon controlled rectifier 48 conducts, it causes theconventional bulb 36 to illuminate and also applies the negative portionof the battery 18 to the second delay circuit 58 along line 32' to oneterminal of the capacitor 42', and one terminal of the resistor 46'.This allows a charging current to flow through resistors 20' and 26causing a voltage to build up on capacitor 42' to the threshold level ofthe unijunction transistor 44. When the threshold level is reached,.thetransistor 44' conducts because of the lowered emitter to base 45'resistance causing a pulse to be generated at the base terminal 45' ofthe transistor 44'. This pulse is coupled to the cathode of the siliconcontrolled rectier 40 through a capacitor 43. This drives the siliconcontrolled rectier 40 to the off position, thus extinguishing bulb 36'and resetting the complete circuit to its quiescent state ready for alrepeated cycle.

In the delay circuit of FIGURE l, the value of capacitor 42 determinesthe rate of drain of voltage therefrom when the unijunction transistor44 is in the on state. When attempting to simulate the shot pattern froma shotgun, it is necessary to compensate for the depth of the pattern asthe shot grouping tends to expand as it travels from the gun. Forexample, at a range of 20 yards, the shot depth, that is, the distancebetween the leading shot particle and the trailing shot particle, isabout times the diameter of the shot pattern, which is the lateralspread of the shot group. At this range, the pattern diameter isapproximately 2 feet and thus, the depth of the pattern is approximatelyfeet. Therefore assuming a shot velocity of 900 feet per second, itwould take approximately 0.011 second for the depth of the shot chargeto travel by the target. When using a flash-type bulb, the on time ofthe bulb may be controlled by the proper Selection of the bulb, However,when utilizing the conventional'bulb 36'Vand the delay circuitillustrated in FIGURE 4, adjustment of resistor 26 provides the properduration of light emission to simulate the shot depth by controlling therate of build-up on capacitor 42. Aperture 28' and adjustment screw 29are provided in the cylindrical extension 56 to adjust the variableresistor 26 to simulate the time delay, and aperture 60 and adjustmentscrew 61 are provided in the cylindrical extension 56 to adjust thevariable resistor 26 of the additional delay circuit 58 to control theduration of illumination of the light bulb 36'..

FIGURE 5 diagrammatically illustrates the operation of the delay circuitto simulate shooting at a moving target. Assuming the shooter wishes tosimulate shooting -at a moving target which is traveling at a rate offeet per second and at a range of 20 yards, and that the average shotcharge velocity is 900 feet per second, the shooter could determine,such as by chart, graph or the like, the time it would take for the shotto reach the target and the distance the target would have moved duringthat time interval. He would then adjust the screw of the variableresisto-r 26 if he is using the long range light shot or variableresistor 26' if he is using the short range light shot, by inserting ascrewdriver or the like through aperture 28 or 28 in the shell casing 10or cylindrical extension 56, respectively, to set the delay circuit fora 0.067 second delay from the time of trigger pull to the time bulbillumination. In the case of the short range light shot, the shooterwould also adjustthe variable resistor 26' by inserting a screwdriver orthe like through aperture 60 in cylindrical extension 56 to compensatefor the shot depth. In order to simulate the target velocity, either atarget moving lat a velocity equal to the desired velocity could beused, or two stationary targets spaced apart a distance corresponding tothe distance the target would have moved during the projectile time offlight, which in the example given would be 6.7 feet. As illustrated inFIGURE 5, shooter 70 aims gun 72 at target 74 and pulls the trigger. Inthe absence of a time delay means, an instantaneous recording of a hitwould be registered on target 74 at this point. However, due to the timedelay circuit the shooter 70 continues his follow-through, as indicatedby the arrow of FIGURE 5, to the gun position 72', at which time thebulb is illuminated to indicate a hit on target 74'. Thus, if theshooter does not follow-through, or if his follow-through is incorrect,the time delay will accurately simulate a target miss and the shooterwill be readily able to correct his mistake.

Various types of light-responsive targets well known in the art could`be employed either as a moving or stationary target in conjunction withthe self-contained illuminating cartridge of the present invention, andsuch targets constitute no part of the present invention.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be madeWithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A dummy cartridge for use in a conventional shotgun having a triggeractuated firing pin comprising:

(a) a cartridge case having a front end and `a rear end,

('b) a light emitting bulb in said front end,

(c) a normally open tiring pin actuated switch in said rear e'nd,

(d) an electric power supply means,

(e) electric delay means` electrically interconnected with said bulb,said switch and said power supply means, said electric delay means beingresponsive to the closure of said switch to electrically connect saidpower supply means with said bulb for actuating said bulb apredetermined time after switch closure.

2. A cartridge as in claim 1 wherein said delay means is adjustable.

3. A cartridge as in claim 1 wherein said light emitting bulb isa oneshot ashbulb.

4. A cartridge as in claim 1 wherein said light emitting bulb isremovably mounted in a lamp socket, said socket being electricallyconnected to said time electric delay means and said switch.

5. A cartridge as in claim 4 wherein said lamp socket is secured to saidelectric time delay means to form a single unit, said unit beingencapsulated in an insulating substance and secured within saidcartridge case.

6. A cartridgeas in claim 1 wherein said delay means comprises a firstSCR, the cathode of said rst SCR being connected to a negative terminalof said electric power supply means, the gate of said iirst SCR beingconnected to one terminal of said switch, the other terminal df saidswitch being connected to a positive terminal of Said'electric powersupply means, said light bulb being connected in series with saidcombination of said positive terminal of said electric power supplymeans and said other 'switch terminal, a'second SCR, the anode of saidsecond SCR being connected in series with said bulb, the cathode of saidsecond SCR being connected in series with the anode of said first SCR,and a unijunction transistor, a variable resistor and a capacitor, saidvariable resistor and said capacitor being in series and connected inparallel with said unijunction transistor, the jtiction of saidcapacitor-and said variable resistor being connected to the emitterterminal of said unijunction transistor, said parallel combination ofsaid unijunction transistor and said variable resistor and capacitorbeing parallel with said second SCR, the gate of said second SCR beingconnected to one base of said unijunction transistor, said one base ofsaid unijunction transistorv being further connected lto the anode ofsaid first SCR, the other base of said unijunction transistor beingconnected in series with said bulb and in parallel with the anode ofsaid second SCR and in parallel with said variable resistor.

7. A cartridge as claimed in claim 6 wherein said dea lay means furthercomprises a second unijunction transistor, a second variable resistor,and a second capacitor, said second variable resistor and said secondcapacitor being in series and connected in parallel with said secondunijunction transistor, the junction of said second capacitor and saidsecond variable resistor being con= nected to the emitter of said secondunijunction transistor, said parallel combination of said secondunijunction transistor and second variable resistor and capacitor beingin parallel with said bulb, and a third capacitor connected in serieswithone base of said second unijunction transistor and said anode ofsaid rst SCR, the other base of said second unijunction transistor beingconnected in series with said switch and a positive terminal of Saidelectric power supply means and in parallel with said second variableresistor and said bulb.

8. A cartridge as in claim 6 wherein said bulb is a. conventionalreusable light bulb and second variable resistor controls the durationof illumination from said PAUL V. WILLIAMS, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl.XJR.1 24U-6.41

